Spring-gear for vehicles.



No. 870,692. PATE NTED NOV. 12, 1907.

J. L. B. SHEPARD. SPRING GEAR FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 26, 1906.

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Jay v v WW 4/ Q J W1 memes PATENTED NOV. 12, 1907.

J. L. B. SHEPARD. SPRING GEAR FOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1906.

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attorney:

QM wanes APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1906.

PATENTED NOV. 12, 1907.

J. L. B. SHEPARD.

SPRING GEAR FOR VEHICLES.

4 SHEBTS-SHEET 8.

Q7 "6' H Q Q Q Q i3 6 3' w @uveufoz PATENTED NOV. 12, 1907.

J.L.B.SHEPARD.

SPRINGYGEAR FOR VEHICLES.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 25, 1906.

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name:

album UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES L. B. SHEPARD, OF GRAYVILLE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FIFTH TOWILLIAM M HALL, OF GRAYVILLE, ILLINOISI SPRING-GEAR non VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 12, 1907.

Application filed August 25,1906. Serial No. 832,024.

To all whom it may concern:

of the vehicle level with respect to the rear axle and also with thereach lengthwise under all-conditions of road and without regard towhatportion of the body the load is placed upon. Also to provide such aspring gear of an adjustable nature with respect to the load..

Afurther object of the invention is the combination withfthe. springs ofan equalizing bar whereby the load will be distributed upon all of'thesprings irrespective of the position occupied by the load in thevehicle. Still further objects are to provide a spring gear for vehicleswhich will prevent the locking'of the front wheels under the body as issometimes the casein heavy loaded freight wagons standing on unevenground thereby causing the body to sag to the a lower side, bearing uponone of the wheels and preventing a short turn being made.

. heavier'load upon one part of a body than another has for. example, inloading driving mechanism and engines upon automobiles. The inventionconsistsohthe novel features of construction hereinafter fully setforth, pointed out in the claims and shown in the accompanying drawings,in which,

Figure]. is a side elevation of my gearing, the lower portion of avehicle body being also shown. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of thebottom of a vehicle with,

my gear-attached thereto. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through a framecarried by the vehicle and through an equalizing'bar, a shaft and springbeing shown in elevation. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a shaftbearing. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a spring connection orrock lever. Fig. 5 is a side view of the rock lever, a portion of thesame ands .shaitbeing in section;- Fig. 6 is a detailperspective view ofa bell crank lever. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the bell crank leverand connected parts, .portionsbeing. in section. Fig. 7 is an end viewof Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of an arm and bearing, carried bythe arm, a portion of the arm being broken away. Fig. .9 is a section onthe line 9-9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a modificationfFig. 11 is an inverted plan view of Fig. .10. Fig. 12.

is a side elevation of an additional modification. Fig. 13 is aninverted plan view of Fig; 12.- I

In these drawings A represent the vehicle axles, B the body and B arectangular frame secured to the body B. Suitable bearings C are placedupon the frame B and these bearings one of which is shown in detail inFig. 4, consists of a plate C to which the bearing (3 is connected bymeans of a web and the sleeve carries an arm 0 bifurcated at itsfree-end, and the web is perforated as shown at C in Fig. 3. Twoparallel shafts D and D are mounted in the bearings C and the shaft Dcarries a rock lever E bifurcated at its ends as shown at E and alsoprovided with transverse perforations in the bifurcated portions. Therock lever is also provided intermediate its ends with a projection Ewhich is provided with two slots E at its free end; The shaft D carriesabell crank lever F one end of which is slotted as shown at Ff while theother end carries a perforated lug F parallel to the slotted member.Both the levers E and F are keyed to their respective shafts. Arms Ghavoan enlarged end portion G which is'counterbored to form a housingfor a ratchet H and slotted as shown in Fig. 9.10 permit a pawl' H toen- .g age the ratchet H. i

The arms G are mounted respectively, upon the outer ends of the shafts Dand D. A link J is pivoted to the free end of each arm G and these linksare pivotally held in suitable bearings J mounted upon the vehiclebolsters J Upon the shaft D are mounted two coil springs 0, "arrangedend to end and the outer ends of th'ese springs are carried through thebifurcation of the'arm C and nected in thebifurcation E at the upper endof the- I lever E and the lower end of said lever is bifurcated toengage the lug F ,of the bell crank lever F. In Fig. 10 I have shown amodified form in which the springs are arranged lengthwise'of'thevehicles instead of transverse to the body. In this form rods K aresecured at one end to the shaft D and frames K are secured atone endtothe shaft. D and the rods K work no through free'endsof the frame andsprings'K are arranged upon said rods within the frames. I An equalizingbar L is pivotally connected in its ends to levers L carriedby the shaftD and D and extending upwardly and downwardly respectively.

The same equalizing bar L and levers L are shownialso in Figs. 12 and 13where I have shown another form of spring. In these figures M representsa common form v of carriage and wagon spring which is carried byasuitried by ends of the frame 13. 'real difference is in the form ofarrangement of the able stirrup M supported upon shafts D and D and thefree ends of these splings M engage rollers M carln all of these formsone spring used, theoperation being substantially the same. The armsG-are loose upon the shafts biltare held in place by'means of nuts G Byloosening the nuts ratchets may be freely rotated thus adjusting therelative positions of the levers carried by the shafts, afterwhichadjustment the nuts are again tightened. -It is thought that it will beobvious from the above description and drawings that any load thrownupon one portion of the vehicle, as for example, above theshait'D willliave a tendency to swing the arms G attached thereto,- thus causing theratchets to rotate and swinging thelever carried by said shaft, and'this movement willbe transmitted by -the equa1izingbar to the othershaftand to the springs carried thereby. The load 'arms mounted uponsaidshaft, ratchets, pawis carried by the arms, and in engagement withthe ratcbets, links pivotally carried bybolsters and connected to thearms, an

equalizing bar; levers keyed to the shafts and pivotally connected tothe ends of said bar and springs supported by said shafts.

arose;

2. A vehicle gear of the kind described comprising vehicle springs,parallel shafts, ratchets' carried by the shafts, arms carried by theshafts, links plvotally mounted upon portions of the vehicle andplvotally connected to said arms, pawls carried by said arms and adaptedto engage-,the ratchets, and an equalizing bar extending between theshafts and plvotally connected to the shafts, the ends of the bar beingin difiierent and horizontal planes.

3. A device of the kind described comprising vehicle springs, parallelshafts supporting said springs, levers secured to said shafts, anequalizing bar pivotally connected at its endsto said levers, one end ofthe bar being in a higher plane than the other, ratchet wheels carriedby said shafts, arms carried by the shafts, pawlscarried bythe arms andadapted to engage the ratchets, and meansfor plvotaliy connecting thefree ends of the arms to the portions of the vehicle body.

4. A device of the kind described comprising parallel shafts, leverscarried by said shafts, an equalizing bar ,plv-

otally connectcd'at its nds to said'levers, one end of the bar being ina higher "lane than the other, coil springs arranged end toend upon saidshafts, the outer ends of the springs being connectedto a fixed supportand the inner ends being connected to the levers, arms carried by theshafts, ratche'ts carried by the shafts, pawls carried by the armsadapted to engage the shaft, and 'linkspivotaliy supported from a partof the vehicle and pivotally connected to ,tbe ends'of the arms. 7

5. A device of the kind described 'comprising-parallel shafts-bearingscarried by a vehicle body for saidshafts, a

rock lever keyed toone of said shafts, a bell crank lever w keyed to theother shaft, an equalizing bar pivoted at one 'end to the upper end ofthe rock lever and at the oppositeend to the depending member of thebell'drank, coiisprings surrounding said shafts, and having their outerends secured to the" bearings and their Inner ends to said levers,

' respectively, arms loosely mounted upon said shafts, ratchets on saidshafts, pawls carried by the arms adapted to en-' gage the ratchets,bearings carried by the vehicle bolsters, links pivotally connected tosaid bearings and also to the arms and nutsworking upon the shaft andadapted to lock the arms with respect to the shafts.

James L. a; serum.

;- Witnesses i N Gno. Bnnss, W. F. Tsrnos.

